Taming a Wild Elephant in the Temporary Stable, rear view 1785

Jan Brandes made this watercolor called ‘Taming a Wild Elephant in the Temporary Stable, rear view’ sometime between 1743 and 1808. Brandes was an employee of the Dutch East India Company, and this image provides a window into the complex colonial dynamics of the time. At first glance, it’s a scene of control: wild elephants being tamed in a temporary stable. Yet, if you look closer, it’s a story of human labor and the imposition of power. The local mahouts, or elephant trainers, are central to the taming process, their expertise crucial to the colonial project. But who are they, really? What are their stories? The ropes binding the elephants also tie together narratives of exploitation, cultural exchange, and the complicated relationships between colonizers and colonized. What does it mean to tame something wild? And at what cost? It’s an image that invites us to reflect on the taming of not just animals, but also of cultures and peoples.